This has to be one of the most interesting threads on PPRUNE for a while, particularly for someone like myself who well hopefully have gained his fATPL in a few months time.
CRM/MCC have there place but I can see where peoples opinion that the Commander's authority is being eroded comes from. I have a thought that to some degree CRM may have outlived its time. Back in the 60's and 70's there where a lot of accidents that resulted from overbearing Captains flying with Junior FO's where the FO did not challenge the Commander and disaster followed. Some of this could be traced back to the fact that many of the airline Captain's of the day were ex-military types from the war and things were done in a military fashion - ie "I am the Captain, I am in Command, and you the FO do as I say".
But the modern airline captain is generally not of that mould, even the ones who have come from the military. Someone suggested the CRM training has made confident Junior FO's overbearing and that maybe a good point. One thing I also think maybe a contibuting factor, and I saw some of this in my military training is the number of people with University education. Degree's teach people to think, question and challenge. I often noticed, as a non-graduate, that during training at Dartmouth and in the Fleet, when the non-graduate trainee Officers were told to do something their first instinct was to obey the order. A bit to often the graduate types first reaction was to question and challenge the order. Not that I think university education is bad, just that it may lead people entering the profession of aviation these days to be a bit too questioning of those more experienced and senior. But the modern world of aviation is some way from the that of the military. Thoughts?
I have also worked as a Dispatcher and I have to say that Captain's going around demanding to be called Sir and Captain are pretty few and far between and I certainly did not go around addressing Captains as Sir but neither did I call then "mate" or "boss". I would usually go onto the FD and say "good morning/afternoon" and if they were from a foreign airline add "welcome to London". I would then give them the information they required from me "slot time is, passenger load is, we have such and such cargo in such and such hold, etc etc" and then ask "what do you need from me, and can I have your loadsheet information please". But I felt I had the maturity to understand that ultimately he or she was ultimately the Captain and was in Command and I should concentrate on "doing" rather then "question and do".
Having spent 6 years as an Officer in the Navy one thing I did learn is that sometims as the Junior one in the operation you do have to shut up, bow the Commander's superior knowledge and experience and get on with what he says. At night, in IMC, with the panel lit up like a christmas tree with failing systems, trying to get into a performance limiting airfield close to a mountain range, is not necessarily the best time to aviate by commitee with the FO questioning everything the Captain says. I think they call it "silent monitoring" orr something dont they?
What I am trying to say I guess is I hope when I do ultimately get that first RHS seat I can take the best aspects of both worlds and combine them in contributing to the safe operation of the aircraft.